Monthly Archives: March 2013

That thought kept rolling over and over in my mind, this morning.So, I stopped for a minute and mused in my spirit.

The next thing I knew, my friend, Gail, popped into my head and suddenly I found myself reaching for my phone to text a message.Prayer rumbled on the inside and then tumbled from my lips. I ended the text with“I love you.”

Almost immediately, and unexpectedly, a return text popped up, “Ditto”

My friend has been slow with technology and isn’tmuch for text communication, so I determined to give her a call during her lunch to check on her.I looked at the time and realized that she was probably already with a client . . . when another text message came through.

“In ER with Dad.”

Really? Emergency Room?It threw me for just a second.I marveled at the timing.

I text back thatI would continue to lift up the situation – whatever it was – and check back later.

Oh-Oh.One could only guess what was going on.My friend’s dad is diabetic, nearly 90, and suffering bouts of dementia along with other illness.

Last summer the family lost track of him! He had been visiting my friend’s sister in Floridawhile his living situation was being worked out.The Floridarelatives were planning to offer him a lovely home with them, when suddenly he went missing!

Even then, I remember being put “on-alert” by the Holy Spirit before I found out what had occurred.

It seems that he had a whim to go back California. Apparently he forgot that he had no place to live, or that he had given his truck to his son.Somehow he managed to get to the airport in Florida and book a flight to California from where he called my friend to come pick him up.Everyone was in an uproar!

We later learned that he had also racked up a number of credit card charges for which he was unable to pay while helping his fifty year old “girl friend.”Now, he is in the hospital.

As it turned out, my friend’s dad was in emergency 7 hours.Not only was he dehydrated, but he had a severe case of scabies.Treacherously, his blood sugar peaked at 468 while his body temperature took a drastic nosedive.

There was no denying, I had heard.There was no real time for a phone call, so I did the next best thing – I shot out a text message on my iPhone.

In this age of technology and electronics, I’m pretty sure God is going to hold us all accountable for our proper use of all these wonderful tools!Whatever we know how to use and what we employ is what we’ll be accountable for.

Now, some of us HATE the learning curve that is included with adding new tech, while others (like my husband) just love it!

And…..just because I’ve disciplined myself to employ certain aspects of available technology, others might not.Depending on their interest, ability to use it, need and so on, people are at all different levels. That has been a hard concept for me to grasp.Then again, I do not choose to engage in “all-things-electronic”, so I’m sure those who do might think me a bit slow or daft in that regard.

These days, it’s tough to keep track of which person does what. One of my DDS client’s doesn’t know how to access the message function on her phone, so she just turned them off.No one can leave a message and that’s frustratingfor me. She doesn’t do e-mail, Facebook, or social media.She often doesn’t answer her phone either!Apart from driving over to her house, a person has to send out a note via snail mail to get her attention or text her husband or employee.The thing is; she’s not very old, she simply doesn’t like change and refuses to adapt.But I digress.That is a topic all of its own!

As for me, how I wish everyone could/would text.It’s one of the quickest ways I know to transmit an important message.

Back to my gut-level leading – – – Since I know Sandycan receive text messages, I knew I was obliged to transmit, exactly, the message God wanted me to get to her.I began…

“Good morning!I am hooking in prayer with you, and am praying over your body for total healing and recovery right this minute.I plead the Blood of Jesus over your body and over your mind.I rebuke the evil one who would put the wrong thoughts in your mind and cause you to draw back in fear.”

Did I know she was ill?No!And that thought immediately crossed my mind.Did I hesitate?No!I know God’s voice.I didn’t have to know what was going on to deliver a message.

Anyway, I sent that section of the message, but wasn’t even done, when an incoming text interrupted.

“Thanks, Nan! I’m in bed – very sick!I’ve been vomiting all night – with diarrhea”

I continued,

“The Holy Spirit has put you on my heart.I am praying over your business and over you for protection from the evil one”

She shot back a text agreeing with me.

I finished,

“By two o’clock today, you will be feeling better”

“Amen” was her reply.

Throughout my morning tasks and as the spirit moved, I continued to pray over her.By the afternoon, the urgency lifted.

Sure enough, the next morning I received a text message with emphasis,

“All better, Nan!”

We praised God for His faithfulness via text.

All day long, I thought of how He motivated me and I continued to praise Him

How insensitive people can be, especially to a new mother whose hormones are wildly vacillating!After I cried, I wanted to scratch out their eyes!

Unlike today, there was no access to a computer or internet via phone, and no one was helping to explain what was on my baby’s face!

As I stared at my newborn, the strawberry patch on her forehead seemed HUGE.Her little eyelid was also involved.The trauma of birth had already left her tiny face and nose flattened, and now she was discolored.

I’m a sure it was my imagination, but every time I looked at her, it seemed like that the patchy-pink blotch was spreading!Of course I couldn’t help but see the irregularities on her face, but I had to quit thinking about it!

Allowing certain thoughts in can be unsafe for God’s kids.Mulling them over and over, is detrimental!Thoughts really DO have to be curbed and redirected. It’s easy to say, but harder to do.Nagging worry likes to hammer at one’s inner fiber.

The age-old and familiar Psalms 23 kept coming to mind.“THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters. He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him–not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake…..”It ended: “Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place. ( Amplified)

While I am not exactly sure why that was comforting, it just was!

I had to make a decision. Settling myself down and getting to the business of caring for my little girl, as a whole little individual, was what I needed to be about.Everything else about her worked, and SHE didn’t know she was “defective”.

We snuggled – she made her baby sounds.Off to sleep we went.Who cares, anyway?She’s mine and I love her.

Before we checked out of the hospital, a doctor mentioned that I didn’t have to worry about her “Salmon Patch”.It was a normal occurrence in babies 35-50% of the time.

Really?Salmon Patch? The name seemed so much less-threatening than the others. Go figure.

My baby’s little tow-head and porcelain skin accented the mark tremendously!The doctor informed me that these types of marks should fade as she grew.The news was good!I breathed just a bit more peacefully.

For the next many months, rude people stared and some made awkward comments.

I paid them no attention!My daughter never knew and I got tired of explaining about what was wrong with her, so I didn’t!

Sure, there was nothing devastating or life-threatening about my daughter’s condition, but, I didn’t understand that at first.

I’m glad I had stored encouraging words in my heart before my daughter was born.The Word of God is powerfully alive and when I needed them, they came up quickly to keep me secure.

Even before I heard the doctor’s re-assuring words, I had obtained peace, and resolve…no matter what I might have to deal with in the future.

Besides, I had my very own Salmon Patch Kid with the brightest, most engaging blue eyes, ever!

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Yep!That’s just what I heard!About the same time I noticed his owner on the street corner, holding a little sign.So skinny. Such wild, fuzzy long hair. The owner, that is.Poor doggie, he lay there listless while his owner held a sign.I imagine they were both hungry.

The traffic that slowed only momentarily had suddenly picked up and I was swiftly surrounded and pushed forward by other cars toward the freeway onramp. Engulfed by thick traffic, I lost sight of them both.

“Help Him, Lord…send somebody to help Him,” I called out loud.

Inside my heart, I heard……”I did…….You!”

“What?I am already way over here.How do I do that?” I heard myself say – also out loud.

I knew better.Even if I was to be inconvenienced by getting on the freeway and had to take the first off ramp to go back and find him, that’s what I’d have to do!

“Okay, Lord, if YOU provide an opening, I’ll do it.”Resolve settled in.

Right then, someone cut in front of me!How unnerving!It could have been detrimental except that I was able to move the right – where I needed to be.

My pounding heart!Well, that wasn’t quite what I had in mind, and it was many blocks before I could turn around.All the while, I heard the Holy Spirit say,

“I’ll show you where to go”.

I meandered back to the area, not quite sure which corner it was that I saw them.There was no getting close or catching this poor man’s attention.By now I was curious to see how the Holy Spirit was going to handle this. I felt led to turn into a little alley-like drive.It took me behind a hotel and meandered until I was close enough to the corner of the sidewalk.

Stopping and watching the area, I knew I didn’t want to get out of the car! But, as Only GOD Can DO IT, as I rolled down my window, he looked my way.I motioned for him, and he walked over while his dog stayed put.

“God has sent me to buy your dog some food and you too!Meet me over at that fast food place, okay?

“Just some coffee for me, Ma’am”, he mumbled.

“No, God said FOOD”, I replied, laughing, and took off.

The noon rush on all the surrounding restaurants was apparent, so it took me a bit to find parking.This fellow made it inside before me.His doggie lay on a dirty backpack outside.

With food purchases made and this dirty fellow seated, I introduced myself, told him to go wash up and that I was going to the store to buy his dog some food, and to wait there ‘til I returned.Inquiring eyes engaged mine and he nodded to my every word.

“My name is Zeus”, he volunteered a little shyly.My dad had a weird sense of humor.My brother’s name is Lucifer and my dog is Bear.”

I left him to get the dog food.A blanket and several other things fairly fell into the shopping cart.A time-check told me that I was running late.I still had more than a 90 minute drive to get to an appointment.

Back at the food place he waited patiently.I mentioned that I had an appointment that I had to get to, but that I had a few things I wanted to talk with him about first.

As I shook those beyond-filthy, festering hands, I let him know that I hadn’t planned to be in his town on that day, but that something came up requiring me to change my plans.I told him how I noticed his dog and what God spoke to my heart and how I got out of traffic to turn around and find him.

The whole restaurant seemed to get quiet.A tall black man, who had been standing watching, eased into the booth behind Zeus and bowed his head.Yes!I had backup!

Suddenly, Zeus got a little flustered and then upset.Grabbing the edges of the table he hoisted himself halfway up and leaned forward with a mean smirk

“Then why, if God loves me so much, does HE let me suffer and be cold like this?”

“Oh no you don’t!” I retorted.

Now, let me preface the rest of the story by saying this: something most people know about me is that I seek not to hurt or offend. What came out of my mouth surprised me almost as much as it did Zeus!

My voice took on a stern tone and as I leaned into his face, I heard myself saying,

”Quit Pissing and moaning and be a man!Are you telling me that none of your circumstances today are a result of some of YOUR OWN crummy decisions??You know, this isn’t the first time you’ve heard about God or His story, so quit pissing and moaning and listen.God is telling me that you need to make some changes – fast!You have some decisions to make.He also says that You don’t have much time.What are you going to say when you leave this body and stand before your Creator?”

“I did the best I could?” he mumbled.

“Wrong answer!You lose!”I said with emphasis

You would have thought I gut-punched him.He sank back into the seat, wide-eyed, sitting motionless for a moment.I stayed standing but my eyes never left his.I’m not sure I even blinked.

Zeus thawed a bit and slowly but clearly said,

“Well, I guess you gotta hear some things you don’t like to get your attention, huh?Did you say you have an appointment and a long drive?”

I affirmed.

“Nancy are you going to be late?”

“Yes.

“Because of me?”

“Yes”

“Then that’s proof that God sent you”

“Zeus,“I said, “You are more important to God than anything.This is what HE sent ME to do.I can’t offer anything more that this bit of time right now, and I may never see you again in this life, but I want to see you in heaven!”

Opening the bag with the rest of the supplies I bought for him, my tone softened and I said,

“Here you go – for you and Bear.Also, here are some comic booklets with stories. There are prayers at the end.Read them and pray those prayers. Give your life to God.I’m going to pray over you right now before I go.”

He shook his head in amazement. All the wind had gone out of his sails.I sensed the Holy Spirits presence.

The Spirit prayed lovingly through me and I felt Him cover Zeus.

After I opened my eyes, the restaurant was still full of people but there was still a Holy-hush over the store.

There was much more to the exchange between Zeus and me that day, but too much to delineate.Like Mary, I have hidden these things in my heart.

As I drove, my body began to shake and tears fell.I praised God for His wonderful kindness and mercy.

I might have been late for my appointment, but I never want to be late for my Divine Appointments.

And when I get to heaven, I believe I’ll meet Zeus there – – – -.and Bear too!